Release Date: 2007-09-11
Original Link: http://presszoom.com/story_141061.html
Source: Center for Public Policy Analysis
The wives and families of three Hmong-Americans missing in Laos since their arrest on August 25 by Lao military and security forces in Vang Vieng, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, will hold a vigil to await the return of their husbands at the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota airport on Sunday, September 9,2007.
(PressZoom.com) - The wives and families of three Hmong-Americans missing in Laos since their arrest on August 25 by Lao military and security forces in Vang Vieng, Xieng Khouang Province Laos will hold a vigil to await the return of their husbands at the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota airport at the international arrival section on Sunday, September 9 from 12:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M.
“We want concrete answers from the Lao government not denials; and we want our husbands, who are American citizens, to be able to walk out the airport door here and come home,” stated Sheng Xiong the wife of Hakit Yang, 29, one of the three Hmong-Americans arrested, jailed and missing in Laos.
Sheng Xiong continued: “I am very frustrated by the lack of information from the government of Laos as well as the denials from the Laotian authorities that U.S. citizens by the names of Hakit Yang, Congshineng Yang and Trillion Yuhaison were arrested or are being detained. The Lao authorities denial needs to be investigated and addressed appropriately. I know that the current situation regarding the Hmong people in Laos is very sensitive and I am fearful for Hakit and the other two Hmong Americans well being.”
The three Hmong-Americans were last seen in the notorious Ponthong Prison in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, where Lao security forces have tortured and killed hundreds of political and other prisoners over the years whom they arbitrarily arrest and imprison. Multiple reliable sources, including eyewitnesses, have confirmed the imprisonment at Ponthong prison of the three Hmong Americans and their Lao-Hmong guide, Pao Vang, shortly after their arrests. The four Hmong were taken from the jail by the Lao military and security officials by military truck on August 30 and moved to an unknown location .
“Unfortunately, the slated arrival of the three Hmong-Americans from St. Paul arrested and missing in Laos is highly unlikely given the Lao government’s continued official denials that their military and secret police brutally arrested and jailed these American citizens on unknown charges,” stated Philip Smith, Executive Director of Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. “Nevertheless, the families and wives of these unfortunate victims are not about to give up hope and we have been in contact with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations to seek help regarding the whereabouts and release of these three Hmong Americans in Laos,” continued Smith.
The judicial system in Laos is not independent and is controlled by the military and security forces who serve the one-party authoritarian regime. The human rights situation in Laos has worsened in recent years according to reports by Human Rights Watch , Amnesty International , the U.S. Department of State and others. Stalinist Laos, and key Lao government officials, are officially designated as a “press predators” by the Paris-based, press-freedom organization Journalists Without Borders (JSF) for their persecution of journalists and propaganda.
The Lao regime continues to deny that he Hmong Americans for St. Paul were arrested and imprisoned in Laos.
In recent years, North Korean refugees fleeing the communist regime have escaped south to Laos seeking safe passage to Thailand and resettlement in the West. North Korean refugees are routinely arrested, tortured and interrogated at Ponthong Prison where both Lao and North Korean officials are known to extort significant sums of money from those seeking their release.
The arrests occurred just prior to senior level meetings by Lao and Thai military officials at Ban Huay Nam Khao, Petchabun, Thailand and Nong Kai, Thailand regarding Laos’ demand that the some 8,000 refugees being held there be repatriated back to Laos. The Hmong refugees in Thailand have refused to return to the communist regime that they fled and have engaged in hunger strikes and threatened suicide if returned to Laos where they face persecution.
In August, U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) and thirteen Members of Congress sent a letter to His Majesty the King of Thailand to appeal to the Thai King to help to halt the repatriation of the 8,000 Hmong refugees back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled.
Center for Public Policy Analysis
Contact: Jade Lee or Anna Jones
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